5/16/2012 -
Drawback for software developers
In its verdict of May 2012 in the case of SAS Institute Inc. (“SAS”) v World Programming Ltd (“WPL”), the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) ruled that the functionality of a computer program and the programming language cannot be protected by copyright. The purchaser of a licence for a program is entitled, as a rule, to observe, study and test its functionality so as to determine the ideas and principles which underlie that program.
Source/author: Newsflash ICT and Intellectual Property May 2012 - Sil Kingma
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5/16/2012 -
Tightening of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act? The Dutch Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en financieren van terrorisme, Wwft) is still under development and a new draft amendment has been tabled in the Lower House. The aim of the amendment is to bring the Wwft into line with the European legislation and to address shortcomings identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The government takes the view that the Wwft should be periodically expanded and amended in order to guarantee the effectiveness of its measures. At the same time, international pressure to tighten the legislation is heavy as ever.
Source/Author: Newsflash Corporate crime, disciplinary proceedings & compliance May 2012 - Jurjan Geertsma, Melissa Slaghekke
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4/16/2012 -
On December 15 2011, the Dutch government released a bill to introduce a bank tax which is expected to enter into force in mid-2012. The stated objectives of the bank tax are to ensure that the banking sector contributes to the costs of stabilisation, to stimulate long-term financing and to discourage excessive bonuses for the board members of Dutch banks.
Source: International Financial Law Review (IFLR) April 2012
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3/30/2012 -
On 1 March last, several amendments were made to the Collective Redundancy (Notification) Act (WMCO). Arranged terminations henceforth count in answering the question whether the WMCO is applicable. It is remarkable that an employee can undermine (annul ) a dismissal by his/her employer or the termination agreement made with his/her employer if the employer has not observed the provisions of the WMCO. The waiting month has also been changed.
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